| In this week's parsha, Eikev, Moshe continues his retelling of the important events in the journey by the Jewish people to the Promised Land. Prominent among these is the fashioning of the golden calf, Moshe's anger, the smashing of the tablets. and -- after Moshe has pleaded, on behalf of Israel, for mercy -- God's giving of the second tablets to Moshe. In comments about a prior parsha, we discussed variations in the text between the first and second tablets.
The parsha includes the words of the second paragraph of the Shma prayer. Unlike the first paragraph, which states the obligations of individuals to love God and to teach our children, the second paragraph adds the rewards and punishment for following or violating the obligations stated in the first paragraph. God says, "I will provide grass in your fields for your cattle and you shall eat and be satisfied." The rabbis learn from the order of these words that an individual is not permitted to feed himself, until he or she has provided food for his cattle.
As noted, the parsha tells of the giving of the second tablets. In the stories about that, the text makes it abundantly clear that the tablets were made of stone: luchos avanim. Why the emphasis on stone? The Malbim, the Eastern European rabbi who wrote a famous commentary on the Tanach, explains as follows: Stone is a solid substance made of grains of sand. Each grain alone has little or no solidity, but when the grains are combined, they form solid stone. So it is with the Torah. While an individual law might not always seem of any consequence, like the grains of sand in stone, they form the Torah, which is "solid" and lasting.
The parsha also contains the important words, "And, you shall eat, and be satisfied, and then you shall bless the Lord for the abundant land which He gave to you." These few words are the basis for the crucial mitzvah of Birkat Hamazon, of the obligation of an individual to thank God after enjoying the food which God has provided.
The haftorah is the second of the haftorahs of consolation that follow Tisha B'Av. Like the others, it is from the prophet Isaiah. It contains the memorable words, "me'harsayich u'machrivayich mimeich yeitza'u" The official translation is that those who would despoil you will leave your midst." But others, less optimistic, translate, "Those who would despoil you are individuals who come from your midst."
Pirkei Avos, Chapter 4: Shmuel the Younger said: Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord God see it, and divert his wrath to you." |
